CHICAGO — A holiday and a lot of time to think is the only thing that separates the Indiana State men’s basketball team from its disappointing home loss to Murray State on Wednesday and a daunting road game at DePaul today.
ISU took Thanksgiving off and had to travel Friday. The Sycamores will get just one practice to prepare for the Blue Demons — the Sycamores hit the floor at South Suburban Community College in South Holland, Ill. on Friday.
That’s leaves a lot of time to brood. ISU coach Kevin McKenna hopes the Sycamores did some soul-searching.
“I hope they were thinking about paying more attention to detail on both ends of the floor. We’re letting some things slide and we’re to the point where we’re making the same mistakes over and over again,” said McKenna on Friday before ISU departed for Chicago. “OK we’re young, we’re inexperienced, we make a mistake, we correct it, and move on. But we’re still making the same mistakes. It’ll come, it’s just frustrating when it doesn’t happen right away.”
ISU senior forward Jay Tunnell said as much after Wednesday’s game. He’s sees a similar pattern developing as it did last season when ISU was winless in its pre-conference road games and squeaked by in some of its home games.
“I’m telling the guys that we started the way we have this year for the same reasons we started the way we did last year. We’re playing 28 minute games, we’re not finishing, we’re not playing a full 40,” Tunnell said.
ISU has been outrebounded in every game this season and its opponents have had double-digit offensive rebounding totals in each game. The Sycamores have also not been sharp offensively or defensively as they are off to their first 0-3 start since 2001.
McKenna is vexed by both mental and physical mistakes. The second-year ISU coach took responsibility for some of it, but stressed that much of it is on the players.
“It’s my fault too. I don’t know if I’ve done a great job of explaining, ‘OK we’re running this play and this is what we want here, here and here.’ I’m trying, I’m doing the best I can. Harry [Marshall] is on the bench trying to tell them what to do, but there’s not much he can do about it,” McKenna said.
“But the things that are frustrating to me, more so than the mental mistakes, are the physical, getting beat to the punch things. Those really bother me,” McKenna added. “We have better control over that as far as being aggressive, the things we harp on every day that aren’t getting done. Things like blocking out on free throws. We’re not even thinking about blocking a shooter or pinching down on guys. We have to keep working on it with the guys and hold them more accountability.
The degree of difficulty for ISU goes way up in the team’s first visit to Allstate Arena — the former Rosemont Horizon — since 1987. The Blue Demons are physical and have a versatile scoring trio. Swingman Dar Tucker leads the way at 19 points per game, but DePaul can go to center Mac Koshwal (13.3 ppg, 11.3 rpg) or point guard Will Walker (13.3 ppg) just as easily.
No time is better than the present for ISU to shore up its rebounding. Starters Koshwal and post player Martija Poscic are both 6-foot-10.
“They’re a Big East team with Big East-caliber players. We have to match their aggressiveness with intensity, toughness and execution,” McKenna said.
• ISU leans toward Doluony redshirt — The decision to redshirt a player is never set in stone, but if all goes according to plan, Koang Doluony will sit this season out. McKenna has been leaning towards redshirting Doluony for some time, but he has hedged his bets in case the Sudanese freshman — who came to ISU by way of Omaha, Neb. — was needed.
“We’re going to try bringing him along, you never know what might happen, but we’re planning on redshirting him if we can,” McKenna said. “It would be a mistake to push him along too quickly and throw him out there right now. We’re leaning [redshirt], but we’re still having him work out like he’s going to play.”
Today’s probable lineups
Indiana State Sycamores (0-3)
Pos Player Ht Yr Rpg Ppg
G Rashad Reed 6-1 Jr. 3.0* 13.3
G Carl Richard 6-4 Fr. 4.0 10.3
G Aaron Carter 6-4 So. 5.0 12.3
F Jay Tunnell 6-8 Sr. 6.3 11.0
C Josh Crawford 6-11 Jr. 5.3 9.7
Coach — Kevin McKenna (15-19 in his 2nd season at ISU, 104-52 overall)
DePaul Blue Demons (3-0)
Pos Player Ht Yr Rpg Ppg
G Will Walker 6-0 Jr. 3.3* 13.3
G Jabari Currie 6-4 Sr. 2.3 6.7
G Dar Tucker 6-5 So. 5.7 19.0
F Martija Poscic 6-10 Sr. 6.3 6.0
C Mac Koshwal 6-10 So. 11.3 13.3
Coach — Jerry Wainright (46-48 in his 4th season at DePaul, 232-192 overall)
* assists per game
Game at a glance
Tipoff — 2 p.m. today at Allstate Arena, Rosemont, Ill.
Broadcasts — Radio: WSDX-AM 1130, WBOW-AM 1300. Internet: gosycamores.com
Last games — ISU lost to Murray State 67-61 and DePaul defeated Detroit 71-62 on Wednesday.
Injuries — none.
Series — DePaul leads 10-1. ISU’s only victory was in the 1979 Final Four. The teams last played in 2003.
Next games — ISU plays host to Arkansas State on Monday; DePaul will play at California on Wednesday.
— Todd Golden
College
ISU men have much to ponder as they visit DePaul
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